50 NFL Players Whose Careers Were Absolutely Pathetic

Some players just aren't meant to be NFL players. Granted, they're capable of playing in the NFL, but they're just not meant to have a successful stint in the NFL.

With that being said, there have been quite a number of pathetic NFL players over the years. I will admit that they're not pathetic athletes, because the average Joe isn't able to say that he played in the NFL, but these guys have. Unfortunately, they just didn't have successful careers.

Aaron Maybin

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Aaron Maybin may still be around in the NFL, but since being the 11th overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft, he's been completely awful.

Maybin was drafted by the Buffalo Bills, coming out of one of the country's top linebacker schools, Penn State, but has fallen flat on his face with only 24 tackles in his first two years in the league. He is now a member of the New York Jets as he tries to revive his pathetic career.

William Green

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William Green is one of many running backs in NFL history that never carried over success from the college level to the NFL.

Green not only had several legal issues, but he was also picked very high in the first round by the Cleveland Browns but lived up to none of the team's high expectations. Green accumulated only 2,109 yards in his four years in the league.

Rusty Lisch

It's rather odd to Google a player and find absolutely no legitimate pictures of that player actually playing in the NFL.

Rusty Lisch is actually No. 6 in this photo, the quarterback, during his days back at Notre Dame.

Lisch retired in 1984 after five years in the NFL with a total of just one touchdown and a pitiful 11 interceptions thrown. He was so bad that his passer rating was an embarrassing 25.1—you can't get much worse than that.

Eric Ghiaciuc

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Eric Ghiaciuc may be one of the worst offensive linemen in NFL history.

Ghiaciuc has been around since 2005 and has bounced around from team to team, never able to stick with a team for more than a couple of seasons. You'd think that teams would realize he's not an NFL player.

Tim Couch

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Tim Couch is arguably the worst first overall pick of all time.

Couch was drafted to be the Cleveland Browns' quarterback of the future but lasted only five seasons with the Browns, posting a 22-37 record as a starter. He finished his career with 67 interceptions and 64 touchdowns.

Craig Whelihan

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Hey, at least Craig Whelihan had success in arena football, as he was laughable during his time with the San Diego Chargers.

Whelihan played just 19 games in his NFL career and managed to throw only 10 touchdowns while being picked off an incredible 29 times. You almost have to try to throw 29 interceptions in only 19 games.

Roosevelt Potts

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Somehow the 6'0", 250-lb Roosevelt Potts ran for 711 yards as a rookie for the Indianapolis Colts—but we all knew that he was way too heavy to be a running back and was practically out of shape and extremely slow.

Renaldo Nehemiah

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Renaldo Nehemiah had no football talent whatsoever.

Nehemiah was known for being a world-class hurdler. He never played college football but somehow found a way to be on the San Francisco 49ers roster from 1982 to 1984. He should have simply stuck with track, as he dropped several passes and caught only 43 balls while scoring four career touchdowns.

Ki-Jana Carter

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There are several reasons why running backs should not be selected first overall in the NFL; Ki-Jana Carter is one of those reasons.

Carter was the first overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1995 but was a complete and utter bust. Carter averaged only 3.6 yards per carry in his NFL career, as he played in only 59 games in seven years in the league.

Rae Carruth

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Rae Carruth is one of the biggest pieces of garbage in the entire history of the world.

Carruth had all the talent in the world and everything going for him, but he had major trouble with the law. Carruth was arrested and sentenced to at least 18 years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend when she was eight months pregnant with his unborn child.

Todd Marinovich

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It never ends well when a young NFL player ends up getting involved with drugs. Just ask Todd Marinovich.

Marinovich was the 24th overall pick by the Los Angeles Raiders in 1991 and literally was a complete bust. Coming out of USC, many believed that he was the next great quarterback and could be Los Angeles' quarterback of the future. That obviously did not work out.

Marinovich lasted only two seasons in the league and posted a career record of 3-5 while recording a 66.4 quarterback rating.

Ted Gregory

How can an entire league be mistaken about a player's exact height?

Ted Gregory was listed as 6'1" as he entered the 1988 draft, but he was a different height. He was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the 26th overall pick, and the team immediately found out that he was much closer to 5'9" than he was 6'1".

Gregory was shipped off to the New Orleans Saints, where he played in only three games and recorded just one sack.

Kim McQuilken

Kim McQuilken had an absolutely pathetic career in the NFL.

McQuilken was the Atlanta Falcons' third-round selection in the 1974 draft and went on to be a complete joke with the team. McQuilken retired in 1979 after being intercepted 29 times and only throwing four touchdowns in just seven games started.

Despite being pathetic in the NFL, McQuilken later went on to be the vice president of Cartoon Network.